Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-12-02

Inc least 1nfofmatlon from her.
"My heart went out to tho forlorn
little one, and l begged to be allowed
to bring her here with me. Here ]
was, through favor, permitted to keep
her with me in the building appro-
priated to our use. A long siege OF
low fever confined my charge to her
cot for weeks; the doctors and my Sis
ter nurses were kind as kind could be,
and aided mo in every way to bring the
child safely through.
81 watched the newspapers, and made
such inquiries as could, but there was
no mention made Of lost little one.
She was still terror-stricken when
spoken to about her past, and l
would not allow the subject mentioned
to her. though in her sleep she would
talk Of and to papa, in the strange
tongue.
II made up my mind to adopt her.
L loved her more each day, and thanked
Heaven for sending me such a precious
Gift.
"She had convalesced sufficiently to
be out i'll the fresh spring air, when one
noon, Il little over two months ago, I
was sitting where now am, with little
Laura Gas | called herr in my lap, when
the house surgeon, accompanied by a
tall, darlS-bearded, foreign-looking
gentleman came along the path. The
footsteps on the gravel walk caused the
child to look up. felt her body grow
rigid in my arms; 1 saw her face pale
as death; her great eyes seemed about
to start from their sockets All this
for second, then she sprang from my
grasp and rushed towards the stranger:
:" Papa! Oh, papaY
~ never will forget that meeting. l
wake at night and cry over the scene
as it again comes before me. When
comparative calm was at last restored
L was introduced then knew why the
child's face had always seemed some
what familiar to me. Her father was
Edward Neville.
"Explanation revealed this: He had
been picked up by a little trading
sloop belonging at small town in Con-
necticut. The kindly Yankee skipper
had put him to bed, after his rescue, in
the cabin By the time they made
port MI. Neville was raging with
brain fever; for weeks he lay without
knowledge of where he was; the valu-
able jewelry and large sum of money
found on him secured him the best at
tention, and when he was very low our
house surgeon was sent for as an ex-
pert in such affections. In about two
months he was able to about and give
an account of himself.
He had been living for sixteen years
in Russia, had married there; in bust
ness he had prospered greatly and was
immensely wealthy. The loss of his
wife, some three years before, was fol-
lowed by news of the death of his
father, who, dying without will, left
him the only heir to another large for.
tune With his child he Travelled a
considerable time in France and Ger
many, and finally took passage for his
native land, where he arrived the day
before his terrible adventure. The
French nurse Of his child had met a
fellow countryman upon the vessel
coming over, and deserted her little
mistress Immediately upon landing, go.
ing off ct once to get married.
Leaving his baggage still at the
Custom House, Mr.. Neville had, with
only small satchel, taken his child to
hotel for the night.
"The next day he started on his un.
fortunate trip to Brooklyn to seek his
old tutor, the only soul he still knew
except his fathers attorneys, now his
own, with whom, however, he was not
Oh good terms. He wished especially
to find his friend, that he might obtain
proper attendance for his daughter.
II have told you how they became
separated. On his recovery he could
learn nothing of the fate of his child,
and sorrowfully concluded that she
was buried beneath the waters of the
river. Our surgeon, after curing the
accomplished stranger, became his
! strong friend and great admirer; the
esteem was reciprocated, hence the
visit that resulted SO happily.
"When he proposed to take the child
away with him, the darling
chung to me and begged
to stay; her entreaties 1 aided
with my own fearful petitions that she
might remain, if only until fully re-
covered. Mr.. Neville granted our
united prayer. He was here after that
daily until month ago, when he sailed
! again for Russia to finally arrange his
interests there. He will return in
about two weeks now.
@He is the most generous man in the
world. His doctors have been paid
ten-fold, their wives given elegant dia
monds. The sailor who rescued him